John,

I just read your new novel The Eisenhower Enigma and I wanted to get to my commentary as soon as possible so I could share the enthusiasm I have for your book. I really mean what I say in my commentary. Feel free to use it in any way as I am so proud of your writing this piece and wish you much success.

All my best thoughts my friend.

Especially,

Kreskin

Yours Truly has known John Romero for some 40 years and never suspected what was in store for me when I picked up this evening a new book by him titled.. The Eisenhower Enigma. First of all the book is a novel and little did I realize that somewhere stored in the mind of one of the outstanding authorities on the gaming industry was resting a piece of fiction that left me surprised, delighted and eager to share it with one and all. The Eisenhower Enigma is an exciting science fiction novel that reaches a highly moving climax that yes..could bring tears to your eyes. You are going to find that John Romero has set the story during a period of history when the public was being more and more aware of mysterious happenings that today we describe as UFO phenomena. You are going to find entering this novel real life characters that become an integral part of the story. Yes, people like Dr. J.B. Rhine who created the term “extrasensory perception,” to Walter Winchell who in the forties and fifties was one of the highest rated and most listened to radio commentators as well as having an extraordinarily successful and powerful show business newspaper column. This is a dynamic period in US history and you will find as well the influences of Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, and Secretary of State James Forrestal and on and on the figures continue all playing pivotal roles in this story. I can’t overlook someone who would seem to be as historically real as the people I’ve mentioned, a unique character by the name of Oracle Alpha who is a psychic that plays a pivotal role in the novel. As is historically true and is spotlighted in his novel the US Government is playing a major role in the investigation. UFO aficionados will be pleased on how accurately Romero has blended fact with fiction.

I am going to warn you my dear reader, you may not be able to put down until you finish it in one sitting. To those in the area of movie making, let me alert you that the climax is powerful, riveting and deeply moving. Wow, this would make a powerful motion picture.

You do not have to read my thought to know that I am deeply excited about The Eisenhower Enigma and the enthusiasm that I want to share with all of you.

Kreskin

The Amazing Kreskin

Kreskin’s Reflections on…

Flip –The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Super Star

By: Kevin Cook

I find it so heartwarming that finally someone has done a biography on Flip Wilson. He would be considered by many to be the first definitive black celebrity headliner celebrity in television and boy did he become the headliner. Certainly he preceded Bill Cosby and so many others. I am pleased to be mentioned in this new book as I got to know Flip initially when we both appeared on the Mike Douglas Show which was a national daytime talk and entertainment program. In fact one of the poignant moments in my career was at the end of one of the Douglas shows that he and I were on, he turned to the staff and Mike specifically and said “we are going to dinner I know you are taking me out for a late lunch but, I want Kreskin to join us.” It was at that point when we sat Mike, Flip and myself that it became clear that Wilson was interested in the nature of my work and of what I was able to do. He had later on introduced me to an elderly psychic woman whom he had great faith in through the years. This was when I had visited with him while on tour. I believe it was in the Chicago area.

The highlight and special memory that showed the depth of his character came when I was booked as a headline guest on his Thursday night weekly hour. I walked in the first day of rehearsal, after all the show was on during prime time and you had there the crew, the writers etc. But, I also hinted that I could not really “rehearse” my presentation, I could do a walk through but because of the legitimacy of my reading the thoughts of the audience I would simply explain what is going to be happening as they cover it on camera. Everyone seemed nod their head and understand and Flip was standing next to me during the discussion. I was given two special segments.. (1) where I was reading the thoughts of members of the audience and the other was a special test involving Flip Wilson himself. Suddenly everything stopped as Wilson walked away from me towards center stage and put his hands up and simply quietly said and in essence announced to his crew – writers and everyone .. he had made a decision, he was not going to do a monologue and the reason he explained was.. he did not want to precede my opening on the show with comedy. He did not to risk taking away from the essence of what I was doing. Yes, there was no discussion, there was no argument about such. I am sure the writers that prepared his opening understood this how he wanted it to be.. and so it was.

As is so clearly embraced in the new book Flip we see how in the latter days of his career Flip had become deeply troubled and built a wall between his personal life and his career. As we read the story and the unfolding of drugs and other factors your heart will break as the book is written with great poignancy. Yet, those of us who not only knew but also those who watched him can never forget in the background of this commentary, the outrageous crying of Geraldine his wild and crazy character along with the Reverend Leroy as well. And those who saw him in his series will recognize phrases that became part of American’s every day remarks. Phrases that were instantly recognized such as .. “the devil made me do it” and “what you see is what you get.”

Kevin Cook’s biography of Flip is a beautiful piece of show business history.

-The Amazing Kreskin

I don’t want to waste your time…

but more importantly I don’t want to waste your money. Though I suspect this warning to you readers is unnecessary. Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem authored by Peter Lamont purports to examine claims of extraordinary phenomena by mesmerists, mediums, and psychics. In my opinion what needs to be exposed is what publisher would have the “extraordinary belief “that a rational person would spend the list price of $85.00 for such a book. Anyone who would expend that much hard earned money for this book would need to have their head examined.

A tragic story out of Florida hitting the headlines today suggests the possibility that school principal George Kenney may have had some causal effect in 2 students committing suicide and one dying in a car crash…because he had hypnotized these 3 and some 75 other students and parents in recent years.

One thing Kreskin would state with certainty….the cause of this tragedy effecting the family and friends of each victim has nothing to do with anybody being put in a hypnotic trance.

As Kreskin has stated for almost half a century, there is absolutely no proof or concrete evidence that hypnosis exists. Kreskin is offering $100,000 to any hypnotist, psychologist, psychic or what have you who can show conclusive proof of a hypnotic state, condition, or trance. He is prepared to demonstrate as he has in thousands of appearances with over one million subjects all over the world that hypnosis not only does not exist but is the power of suggestion.

The Amazing Kreskin, appearing at Shepherd Hills Dinner Theater in Wescosville, credits his audiences’ receptiveness for his psychic ability to read minds. “Success depends on their willingness to open their imaginations and receive,” Kreskin said. “I am helpless if they refuse. Basically, I apply the doctrine of the power of positive thinking, which may well be mankind’s ultimate mental tool.”

Despite being barred from casinos around the world because of his psychic poker play, The Amazing Kreskin will appear for two months at Casbah Lounge in the Sahara starting Wednesday. For the first time, he’ll offer a weekly 30-minute gambling seminar to audiences to impart his expertise on how individuals playing poker, blackjack and other card games can increase their advantage and odds. Kreskin, who has broken records at casinos all over the globe, will reveal why he’s banned from casinos and isn’t permitted to play poker anywhere. I’ve worked with the mentalist on many TV shows over the past 20 years, and with $1 million at stake, he’s always won every challenge. Doubtless, he’ll make waves here on The Strip over the next 60 days.

THE NATIONAL POST: by Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, December 01, 2008

It didn’t take a psychic to predict the results from the fall TV season so far. Only two new shows are considered bona fide successes: Fringe and The Mentalist. The first, a much-hyped, supernatural-themed redo of The X-Files, was easy enough to predict, thanks to a big budget — at US$10-million, one of the most expensive pilots in TV history — a comfortable time period, a strong lead-in and the imprimatur of J. J. Abrams, one of TV’s most creative and successful producers of the hour.

The Mentalist was harder to predict, though. A lighthearted, feel-good caper thriller starring Simon Baker as a quiet-natured crime solver with a gift for reading body language, The Mentalist was not expected to cause much of a stir in TV’s space-time continuum. Instead, The Mentalist is in heady company, with an average weekly audience of 16 million U. S. viewers. It routinely places in the Top 10 in the U. S. Nielsen ratings. The Mentalist’s Oct. 21 episode topped that week’s outings of perennial ratings champions Grey’s Anatomy, House, CSI: Miami and Survivor: Gabon in the U. S. ratings charts. (The Mentalist airs on CTV-owned A channel in Canada.)

Baker is an Australian-born career actor who scored his first major U. S. film role as a would-be actor in Curtis Hanson’s 1997 film noir L. A. Confidential. He plays Patrick Jane, an independent crime consultant with the California state police. Jane has an enviable track record for solving crimes, thanks to his ability to read body signs and second-guess others’ thoughts.

The Mentalist frequently features flashbacks to Jane’s TV-psychic days, though, and it’s those scenes that feel like a breath of fresh air to Baker. They’re a lot of fun,” Baker said, “because you’re an actor playing an actor, and you actually get to comment on the shallowness of acting. You’re commenting on yourself, and that makes it self-deprecating in a sense. I love the idea that the character is a fraud and is aware he’s a fraud.”

Baker spent hours surfing You-Tube while researching the role. “There are psychics all over the place,” he said. Baker is not surprised that The Mentalist has found a wide audience. “In a lot of crime shows on television these days, the truth is found under a microscope, as some kind of scientific fact. ‘Oh, it’s in the DNA.’ On our show, the truth lies in the fabric of human nature. It’s about reading people’s behaviour. We’re kind of hitting two notes. If you already know who committed the crime, then you get to watch how the [detective] puts it together. It’s the upside-down detective genre.”

Unlike sham psychics in the real world, The Mentalist doesn’t claim to be real, according to the show’s creator. “We’re dealing with a slightly heightened reality,” series creator Heller said. “The Mentalist is set in an idealized world, this idealized place where a mentalist detective can ply his trade and the laws of physics in this world allow that to happen.”A real-life Patrick Jane who helps detectives solve crimes is unlikely, Heller adds.

“In real life,” he said, laughing, “you wouldn’t have someone like Jane on the police force any more than the police would let Batman get involved in crime fighting.” – The Mentalist airs Mondays on A at 10 p. m., and Tuesdays on CBS at 9 p. m.

The Amazing Kreskin is developing a reality TV show in which he’ll help police with unsolved investigations. The project, “POI: Persons of Interest,” follows thought-reader Kreskin as he assists law enforcement in gathering information that could help solve open missing-persons or criminal cases.

Kreskin and his partner on the show, producer Katy Wallin, are shopping the half-hour series to cable networks and already have shot a pilot in which the mentalist helps solve a case involving Scott Javins, a college student from Indiana who disappeared in 2002.

Wallin, who said “POI” has been in development for more than a year, noted the similarities with CBS’ new police procedural drama “The Mentalist,” which joins the network’s schedule in the fall at 9 p.m. Tuesdays. That series stars Simon Baker as a celebrity psychic who puts his observational skills to better use working for law enforcement.

“There’s an uncanny similarity between our pilot and the forthcoming CBS series ‘The Mentalist,”‘ Wallin said. “There is one basic and major difference: ‘POI’ is not fiction and stars the real mentalist.”

Kreskin, who recently has been serving as a consultant to law enforcement and security personnel, created the project with Indiana state investigator John Kleiman. Kreskin said the project is “a great chance to bring closure to families who need it.” 11/11/08

The Amazing Kreskin is developing a reality TV show in which he’ll help police with unsolved investigations. The project, “POI: Persons of Interest,” follows thought-reader Kreskin as he assists law enforcement in gathering information that could help solve open missing-persons or criminal cases.

Kreskin and his partner on the show, producer Katy Wallin, are shopping the half-hour series to cable networks and already have shot a pilot in which the mentalist helps solve a case involving Scott Javins, a college student from Indiana who disappeared in 2002.

Wallin, who said “POI” has been in development for more than a year, noted the similarities with CBS’ new police procedural drama “The Mentalist,” which joins the network’s schedule in the fall at 9 p.m. Tuesdays. That series stars Simon Baker as a celebrity psychic who puts his observational skills to better use working for law enforcement.

“There’s an uncanny similarity between our pilot and the forthcoming CBS series ‘The Mentalist,”‘ Wallin said. “There is one basic and major difference: ‘POI’ is not fiction and stars the real mentalist.”

Kreskin, who recently has been serving as a consultant to law enforcement and security personnel, created the project with Indiana state investigator John Kleiman. Kreskin said the project is “a great chance to bring closure to families who need it.”